Friday, June 1, 2012

Thankfulness on a Friday

After a trying couple of days. I've had a really lovely week, and I'm feeling particularly grateful.

I wanted to share with you a little something that has been playing in my subconscious, inspiring and reminding me lately.

About a month ago, Design Mom posted a project by
Hailey, a photographer from Brisbane, Australia. She's titled her work 365grateful.

As I watched her intro, I connected with her sense of sometimes being dissatisfied for no good reason.

I kept a gratitude journal a few years ago, jotting down five or more moments of thanksgiving from the day (I was always surprised by how much food entered into it). The days of taking the time for such a focus have fallen away, but her story made me long to return to such a beautiful practice.

In her story, Hailey sought out the help of a nun who encouraged her with a simple thought: write down something every day for which she was grateful.

As an artist, Hailey took it one step further and took a polaroid of every day as well. Here are her words:

Taking one photo
every day for a year of something I was grateful for really
re-programmed my brain. I couldn’t believe how much gratitude affected
my life. Seeing and celebrating the good in my life affected not only
the way I felt spiritually and physically but it improved my
relationships with others, too.

I love how she notices how romantic her husband truly is and that she feels connected to nature through this experience.

So, I'm feeling a thankful. Here are my five reasons today:

1. My husband always makes sure my car has a full tank of gas (even if he has to go out at midnight to fill it up for me). I'm quite talented at pumping gasoline, but he's also quite talented at loving me.

2. Lovely people I've never met have stopped by this webhome and made lovely comments and these simple gestures have lightened a rainy day.

3. My children with all of their bumps, dramas, and messes are the biggest delight of my life. And when I've rested my fork from a well-earned dinner, and I look over at their complete faces and watch their eyes, I can understand why the poet Kahlil Gibran described children as life's longing for itself.

4. I have a new(er) sink. And it's really deep. And it can hide hold two full days of dishes without anyone knowing that they're even in there. And I'm really good at testing this capacity.

5. I get to have tomorrow. Another day to start again, to notice all the pieces of Heaven around me, another day to offer my gratitude.